UN Special Rapporteur on minority issues Nicolas Levrat on Friday urged Nepal to effectively implement constitutional and legislative safeguards to end discrimination against minorities, especially singling out Dalits. Speaking in Kathmandu, Levrat acknowledged Nepal’s progressive legal framework but warned that persistent failures in enforcement, accountability and institutional inclusion continue to deny Dalits and other minorities [...]
A UN expert on Friday hailed the forensic analysis of 114 unidentified bodies of people killed during the July 2024 protests in Bangladesh as a “fundamental step” toward achieving “justice and accountability.” UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions Morris Tidball-Binz, who visited Dhaka in July to provide technical advice on forensic investigations [...]
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker on Friday signed a bill authorizing a strictly regulated form of medical assistance in dying for certain terminally ill adults. The option will be available in September 2026, allowing time for the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) and state healthcare systems to establish safeguards. Senate Bill 1950, known as “Deb’s [...]
US District Judge Paula Xinis in Maryland issued a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) blocking Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from detaining Kilmar Abrego Garcia again, pending further hearings. The TRO came only a few hours after Judge Xinis ordered Abrego Garcia’s release from ICE custody in Pennsylvania. In the TRO, Judge Xinis wrote, “Abrego Garcia [...]
A UN Special Rapporteur on Friday released a report urging the UK government to condemn Myanmar’s upcoming military junta-orchestrated election that appears to be a “sham,” as well as to continue its support of human rights in the area. Tom Andrews, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, stated: “I urge [...]
Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a report on Thursday charging that Russia has inflicted a widespread and deliberate pattern of physical and psychological abuse on Ukrainian POWs throughout their detention. The report, based on in-depth interviews with 12 former prisoners, documents severe beatings, mock executions, electric shocks, and attacks by dogs, describing a system intended [...]
UN-appointed investigators reported on Thursday that Venezuela’s Bolivarian National Guard (GNB) has over the past decade carried out a pattern of killings, arbitrary detentions, torture, and sexual violence against protesters and political opponents of President Nicolás Maduro. Venezuela entered 2025 under intensified international attention, after a wave of repression followed the July 2024 presidential election. [...]
The social media platform Reddit on Friday challenged Australia’s social media ban for youth under the age of 16 in the country’s High Court. The move came two days after Reddit implemented age restrictions on its website. The legal action seeks a judicial review of Australia’s Social Media Minimum Age (SMMA) law, which took effect [...]
A Pakistani military court sentenced former intelligence chief Faiz Hameed to 14 years imprisonment on charges of espionage and abuse of power, according to a press release by the media and public relations division of Pakistan’s army on Thursday. According to the statement by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Field General Court Martial found [...]
Austrian lawmakers on Thursday voted by a large majority to approve a law banning headscarves in schools for girls under 14, a move that is now facing criticism from experts and human rights groups. The only party to oppose it was the opposition Green Party, which argued that the law is unconstitutional. The ban was [...]
